Thermochemical study of natural montmorillonite

Abstract

The paper reports results of an experimental thermochemical study (in a heat-flux Tian-Calvet microcalorimeter) of montmorillonite from (I) the Taganskoe and (II) Askanskoe deposits and (III) from the caldera of Uzon volcano, Kamchatka. The enthalpy of formation Δ f H el 0 (298.15 K) of dehydrated hydroxyl-bearing montmorillonite was determined by melt solution calorimetry: −5677.6 ± 7.6 kJ/mol for Na0.3Ca0.1(Mg0.4Al1.6)[Si3.9Al0.1O10](OH)2 (I), −5614.3 ± 7.0 kJ/mol for Na0.4K0.1(Ca0.1Mg0.3Al1.5Fe 0.1 3+ )[Si3.9Al0.1O10](OH)2 (II), −5719 ± 11 kJ/mol for K0.1Ca0.2Mg0.2(Mg0.6Al1.3Fe 0.1 3+ ) [Si3.7Al0.3O10](OH)2 (III), and −6454 ± 11 kJ/mol for water-bearing montmorillonite (I) Na0.3Ca0.1(Mg0.4Al1.6)[Si3.9Al0.1O10](OH)2 · 2.6H2O. The paper reports estimated enthalpy of formation for the smectite end members of the theoretical composition of K-, Na-, Mg-, and Ca-montmorillonite and experimental data on the enthalpy of dehydration (14 ± 2 kJ per mole of H2O) and dehydroxylation (166 ± 10 kJ per mole of H2O) for Na-montmorillonite.